Extensive research has been published on the effects of music in reducing anxiety. Yet, for most of the existing works, a common methodology regarding musical genres and measurement techniques is missing, which limits considerably the comparison between them. In this study, we assess, for the first time, markedly different musical genres with both psychological and physiological measurements. Three previously studied musical samples from different genres—classical (Pachelbel’s Canon in D), Turkish (Hüseyin Makam), and electroacoustic (pure electronic)—were employed to influence “everyday anxiety” in 50 German participants (25 females, 25 males). Psychological (self-perception assessment) and physiological (heart rate measurement) indicators of anxiety, as most typical of prior work, were considered. Our study shows that listening to Pachelbel’s Canon increases the self-perception of calm, whereas listening to the electroacoustic sample decreases it; the Turkish sample is in between. No differences in heart rate are found for any of the musical genres. Our study also suggests that listeners’ self-perception might be biased by the statements used in the psychological evaluation (positive or negative), which are interpreted differently by the subjects depending on their current state.

关于音乐对减轻焦虑的影响的广泛研究已经发表。但是，对于大多数现有作品，缺少有关音乐流派和测量技术的通用方法，这极大地限制了它们之间的比较。在这项研究中，我们首次从心理和生理角度评估了明显不同的音乐流派。以前曾研究过三种不同流派的音乐样本，分别是古典音乐（帕切尔的佳能D），土耳其音乐（HüseyinMakam）和电声（纯电子音乐），以影响50名德国参与者（25名女性，25名男性）的“日常焦虑”。考虑到焦虑（以前的工作中最典型的）的心理（自我感知评估）和生理（心律测量）指标。我们的研究表明，聆听Pachelbel佳能的声音会增加对镇静的自我感知，而聆听电声样本会降低这种感觉。土耳其样本介于两者之间。没有发现任何音乐流派的心率差异。我们的研究还表明，听众的自我感知可能会受​​到心理评估中使用的陈述（正面或负面）的偏见，主体根据其当前状态对陈述的理解有所不同。